Crafty ADD #32

Boy it's been a long time since I've posted one of these! The last month has just been weird. First I spent about two weeks at the hospital every spare moment I could with my brother, his wife, and their kids (she had two lovely twin boys and they are now doing wonderfully!). Then I got really sick for a bout a week. Then, not long after recovering from that, I ended up with major oral surgery! Wow. No wonder I feel like I've been absentee from the on-line world lately.

I haven't done any crocheting. Which is bad, cuz the boys are born and it isn't done, but I figure as long as I get it to them in the first few months we're good right? I've done some cross-stitch, but I forgot to take a picture and I don't want to go take one :P I'll show you where I'm at with the next update!

My major focus has been jewelry the last two weeks because I started the Saturday Market season and I've been working hard on display's and inventory!

This is a custom order I did for a friends mom. It was really neat, her daughter bought the necklace for her birthday, and then the mom decided she wanted a full set! Sweet eh? I had fun designing the earrings. I wanted something that would compliment the design of the bracelet and necklace (which match). It took three tries, but I found something I fell in love with and I will be making more for my shop!

Charms tend to be a big seller for me. $3-5 depending on what they are made of, so it's a cheap and easy item to pick up. Doesn't hurt the wallet. I knew I needed to make more but I got extra incentive when I picked up a coffee cup holder to hang them from! I'm not sure I have what I'd consider a "full inventory" (ie, what makes the holder look nice and full) yet, but that's enough for this week! Especially since I made most of those today...and there are other projects to work on!
3 of these sets of earrings were for specific people, and the rest are just to keep the stock up in my shop :) I'm kinda in the habit of making multiple pairs of earrings whenever I sit down to make one specific pair. They don't take long to make up and it's a good way to keep up inventory! Especially since these also tend to be good sellers :)

My Work in the Real World

As an artist it's always fun to see my art work out there in the real world! I always love it when I see one of my family or friends wearing a piece I made them. Every once in awhile I get pictures from my customers too!

I met Selana a few months ago. I'm not sure if we met through some one on plurk, but that's where we've gotten to know each other! Our first transaction was a trade where I got some awesome yarn from her shop and she got a hemp necklace.

Then Selana asked me to make her a custom set of hemp jewelry. It was a lot of fun to come up with! We ended up with 5 pieces, a necklace, two bracelets, and and two arm bands. The goal was for her to use them with a shawl for a costume so that the shawl would attach to her arms like wings. It worked out perfectly! This is the Selana and her lovely outfit - and my hemp work!

Crafty ADD Update #13

I know some think that 13 is an unlucky number - but I have lots to show off this week so it must not hold true for me! So let's get to it.

Crochet

I realized a few days ago, with panic, that the baby shower is NEXT WEEKEND! I sat down and figured out how many squares I had left, how many days (leaving time to wash it once), and how much that means I need to crochet a day. I have to crochet and attach 6 squares a day! Now I've put in that kind of time on bead weaving many a time, but never crocheting!

Fortunately I'm right on track :) In the last couple of days I've crocheted and attached 16 squares! I have two more done since I took the pic this afternoon, and I have two more left to go to finish up my goal for the night. I know I can do it!

Cross Stitch

Not much progress from last week - but I've finished all the grey outlining! I won't get much done on it this week either...well at least not until the baby blanket is done! Then again once the blanket is done I'm going to need a serious break from crocheting....

Oh yeah, that's what knitting is for :P

Jewelry

I usually don't have a ton to show off in the jewelry category because I don't list everything I make in these updates - usually it's just whatever my WIP is - or maybe a special project that's not going on-line. Well this week I still have tons to show even with that!

The two hemp bracelets are a custom order for little twin girls for Christmas! I'm excited - because I love kids - and I love twins! So I'm thrilled that I got a chance to do this. I just wish it hadn't taken me so long to get the hemp color I needed. Fortunately I had an AWESOME customer who was very understanding!

The memory wire bracelet is what Meri ordered with her Gift Certificate from my Top Commentators contest. I love how it turned out! She loves woodsy things, and liked the look of memory wire, so this is what I came up with for her. :)

I'm back partcipating in the Thursday Sweet Treat weekly theme! This weeks was "In the Stars." Fortunately I recently bought those cute star beads, so coming up with a piece for this week was easy! I also need to restock my consignment store - so that's where this one is going! Of course, if anyone is interested, I can easily make another one for any interested customer.

I just have to show these off too! Even though these Bright and Cheery Disc Earrings are listed on Etsy and will be showing up next time I do a spotlight on my recent listings. Why? Because I'm excited about them! LOL

I've only made a few things with circular brick stitch so far. A pendant for my "Aztec Treasure"necklace, and for a pair of earrings called "Whirl of Colors." Both of those simply used seed beads. For these earrings I branched out a wee bit more and used a larger bead for the center and several different sizes of seed beads - and it went together like a dream! Look for more pieces in similar styles to be showing up in my shop over the next few months.

What's Next?

Well, like I said a good majority of my time this week is being devoted to crocheting. However, both my consignment shops need to be restocked as well! And I have an order that I need to work on tonight to adjust its length so I can mail it when I go to the post office tomorrow.

Did I mention my grandparents are also in town?

*whew*

I WILL get a good photo of the blanket when it's done to go up in next week's ADD post. I'll also try to get some shots of my consignment pieces and either give them their own post or put them in next weeks ADD post. In the mean time - lets hope my fingers don't fall off!

Lots of Goodies to Show Off!

I told my friends on plurk last night that I'd gotten goodies in the mail, and I promised to show them off! Don't worry, I would have shown them off anyway :P

First up are these goodies I got in a trade with Creative Supplies. I have several ideas for these, but I'm WAY behind on my product photography so it might be awhile before you see it even if I make it today :P

I got two packages in the mail yesterday. The one with the beady goodies was expected, the other one was a surprise! Since I'm staying with my parents while the paint airs out at my apartment, my hubby brought it over in his backpack. First he dolled out the regular mail, one piece at a time. Then he asked me what was in the packages. Since I didn't know what was in the second package he had to taunt me! First he gave me the supplies... then he threatened to open my surprise...and finally I got to unwrap my lovely present!

I had signed up for a "Craft It Forward" awhile ago, and this was my beautiful present! It's from my friend Sharla. She said it's for keeping track of all my jewelry ideas. So I took her at her word and titled the notebook appropriately.

Then I made a sketch of the idea that was running through my head the night before! I'm hoping to make a broach. Don't worry - when I actually outline it I'll be much more precise and pretty looking than my quick free hand sketch :P I'm not much at drawing...

Last of all...I wanted to show off my custom order I've been working on! I really enjoyed working on it - and she said she really likes it! It went out in the mail today :) It's two matching bracelets, a matching necklce, and two arm ties that she is going to use to tie her shawl to her upper arms.

Crafty ADD Update #8 and Health Update

Hey guys! Sorry I've been quiet the last few days. My migraines got REALLY bad, and we figured out that I've been reacting to them painting my apartment complex. I figured this out on Friday, but was determined to just stick it out. Then Saturday was horrible, and when I woke up on Sunday just as bad... Well that's when Mo and I made the decision to have me move back in with my parents temporarily. Hopefully it's just for a week or two until the paint fumes settle. The whole process has been exhausting, but I do seem to be doing some better now that it's been a few days so it looks like it's working!

Have no fear - I packed up my crafty stuff and brought it with me! So I'll still be hard at work creating fun crafty things :D And now that I'm starting to feel a little bit better that means I'll get more done again :P Unlike this last week... Here's where I'm at though!

Crochet

Didn't get as much done on this, this week. I'm going to have to step it up so it gets done in time for next months baby shower!

Fun piece of news - I just found out yesterday that my "brother" and his wife are having another baby! I won't need to start on that baby blanket until after Christmas though. Plenty of time to figure out what I want to do. I might do another crochet project...or I might do a quilting project :D

Cross-Stitch

I still have a lot of ideas floating around my head for the next cross-stitch project, but I havan't had the brains to do the actual planning. So I've worked more on putting thread on bobbins! Going for a bit of raibow type pattern since these threads don't have numbers like the DMC thread that I have in my other storage box.

Jewelry

I love doing custom orders! This piece is the first piece in 5 piece set I'm making for a gal in Germany. The piece shown above is an arm band that's designed to be able to be tied with one hand to secure a shawl to the upper arm. I'll be making a matching one like this, two bracelets in the same color but w/ beads, and a choker, also with beads

Happy Accidents

You just gotta love how life works out some times! I hadn't picked up my hemp in awhile...I've been on a bead weaving kick like nobody's business! Usually I alternate a lot between the different mediums, but I've had a pretty bad month physically, and the advantage of bead weaving is that once a projects is set up I don't have to move around for supplies or anything for a long time :P

Then I was talking with Selana on Plurk and we decided to do a trade. I'm getting some incredible sock yarn - that I'll show off after I get it! In exchange I made the necklace on the left for her. Now I was pretty tired the night I started it, so I totally miscalculated the hemp lengths at first. I knotted for awhile and realized I didn't have anywhere near enough hemp left for the full necklace, but I did have enough for a plain bracelet. So I finished it up as a bracelet and started over again on the necklace.

Now I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do with the bracelet. I usually put some sort of beads

in each bracelet! And it was a little on the small side... But I decided to take a photo and list it anyway. And guess what? That was earlier this week - and it sold this morning! To some random stranger in Australia. How cool is that?

I was talking the other day with another artist about how sometimes it amazes us, as artists, which pieces end up being the one's that sell. Sometimes the things that sell are the one's that you didn't like very much, but decided to put out there any way. Other times it's pieces that are simply "happy accidents." They don't look anything like what you may have originally intended when you started them, or they are a result of a mess up, but they still are what some one wants for their very own. I love it when that happens!

It also makes me wonder if I should do a few more simple hemp bracelets in different colors that are beadless... I'll add it to my ever growing list :P Seriously...this list of ideas and projects is INSANE. If I could just get the ideas to slow down to something less than a flood...naw...that would be less fun :P

NEW Sale Item of the Week!

Well this is certainly a nice problem to have...my previous sale item for this week is gone! Woohoo! So I'm putting up a new one :) I'm excited about this one too! 

But first... Since this is already my second post of the day I just want to let you know I won't be doing Tuesday's Tips today...but you might see something similar to it tomorrow ;)

This week's sale item is my "Beadaholic" bracelet! But wait - there's more! The special counts for any word-related custom order! So if you love this word, but want different colors or size, I'll do it! If you want it to say "Choco-holic" or "I (heart) Moses" (although I'd be creeped out if you love my hubby too :P). I'll do just about any word - so just let me know!

The original "Beadaholic" bracelet is 6 1/2 inches long. If doing a custom order please be aware that the longer the word the longer the bracelet will have to be. 

On sale for only $32 plus $2 shipping and handling! 

Sale Item of the Week - Heroes!

I'm very excited to be offering this as my weekly special! This is one of my favorite creations, for so many reasons. If your a major Heroes fan (like myself), you'll recognize this symbol as one that mysteriously appeared over and over, espcially in the beginning. It's supposed to represent a fusion of the Japanese Kanji for "God" and "send." 

One of the reasons I love this piece so much is that it was the first difficult pattern that I greated. Now, some beadweavers might look at that and go "huh, not THAT hard." And maybe one day I will too, but this was my first pattern that wasn't simply geometric designs. It's also proven to be extremely popular! I made one over Christmas (no pictures unfortunately) in black and silver, and the picture below was another custom order. 

The black and white bracelet is 7 1/2 inches long. I can easily make this bracelet in any size and colors that you'd like though. This week it's only $26, that gives you 20% off and only $2 shipping to anywhere in the world! Just let me know what size you need and what colors your interested in. You can contact me directly at jedimarri@gmail.com to let me know what your specifications are.